Spain, September 7- 29, 2002

Stage 8 - September 14: Málaga - Ubrique, 173.6 km

Aitor Gonzalez moves closer to the lead

Kelme's Aitor Gonzalez moved himself up one place on GC after winning the eighth
stage from Malaga to Ubrique. Gonzalez caught solo escapee Luis Perez (Team
Coast) with just a couple of hundred metres to go, after a suspense filled pursuit
on the descent into Ubrique, and the subsequent uphill finish. But even as he
caught Perez, the front part of the peloton was nipping at his heels, although
second placed David Etxebarria didn't quite have the legs to get around the
Kelme rider at the end. Gonzalez is 41 seconds off the lead, and has a chance
of taking the gold jersey from teammate Sevilla in Monday's time trial.

Today's eighth stage of the Vuelta, from Málaga to Ubrique, presented
a profile fit for a strong opportunist, with three categorized climbs and a
finish 33km from the final summit. The climbers and overall favorites in the
race would have to be attentive and watch for attacks, however the likelihood
of major time gaps presenting themselves at the finish was relatively small.

The stage began quite quickly, thanks to a combination of large roads, aggressive
riding, and a healthy tailwind. After 30km of racing, the principal escape of
the day developed, which after some sorting out, saw Aitor Osa (iBanesto.com)
and Massimiliano Lelli (Cofidis) working together out front of a chasing duo
of Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) and Vladimir Miholjevic (Alessio). With
just over 75km to race, Gonzalez de Galdeano and Miholjevic caught Osa and Lelli,
consolidating the escape which by this point had a three minute advantage over
the peloton.

Unlike previous stages where the early breaks have been given some time to
ride by the peloton, today's move represented if not a serious threat, at least
a move to be watched carefully by the leaders. Gonzalez de Galdeano sat over
six minutes back in the general classification after stage 7, but his presence
in the break was a good tactical move. This relieved ONCE of any responsibility
to chase, protecting both the team's workers and their leader Beloki, who has
not shown his most brilliant form in recent days.

The Kelme team of Oscar Sevilla, currently in gold as overall leader, took
the responsibility of getting the chase underway, and as the race hit the final
climb of the Puerto de Las Palomas the four leaders were within three minutes
of the pack. The favorites had stayed together on the first two climbs of the
day, reserving the final 12.7km ascent for any confrontations.

While Kelme rode to keep the race under control and the favorites in check,
several members of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team joined in the mix up front, riding
to protect the 6th and 7th places on GC of Haimar Zubeldia and Iban Mayo, which
at this point were in some jeopardy with Gonzalez de Galdeano up the road.

The four man break began to fragment on the final climb, as a series of attacks
were launched from the chasing peloton. Euskaltel's David Etxebarria tried his
luck, with no success, followed Jazztel's Ricardo Valdez, who managed more of
an advantage but still could not break the grip of the fast-climbing pack. Valdez
did succeed in catching (and soon passing) Lelli, who by this point was alone
up front, his breakaway companions returning to the fold as the climb went on.

By the top of the climb the race was coming together, with small attacks continuing
to spur the group along. Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) attacked close to the summit,
and succeeded in taking the mountain points and putting himself in the orange
jersey as leader in that competition at day's end. As the peloton began the
descent, reduced to around 30 riders, Team Coast's Luis Perez set off on a daring
attack. Perez profited from the technical descent and just enough hesitation
from the riders at the head of the race. Persisting with his effort, he had
25 seconds over the bunch with 25km to go, searching desperately for his first
ever professional victory.

As Perez flew towards the stage finish in the town of Ubrique, 4th place overall
Aitor Gonzalez (Kelme) jumped and started his own counter attack, closing in
rapidly on the Coast rider dangling out front. Perez's chances looked reasonable,
but with a tricky run through town, an uphill finish, and Kelme's Gonzalez closing
quickly, the race was coming down to the wire.

Perez gave it everything through the narrow streets of Ubrique, taking risks
(and poor lines) through the corners in an effort to maintain his shrinking
advantage, down to barely 13 seconds over Gonzalez with 1km to go. The final
500m of the stage were uphill, and Perez suffered, all the while cheered on
by a huge crowd lining the streets.

It looked as though luck might shine on Perez, professional but winless since
1995, until Aitor Gonzalez appeared suddenly behind the lone leader. The wilted
and frustrated Perez pushed himself once more to contest the sprint, but there
was no stopping Gonzalez, who took the stage victory and thanks to a small split
between the favorites behind, moved into third place overall ahead of US Postal's
Roberto Heras. David Etxebarria slipped in for second place on the day, while
most of the favorites had closed in to finish within the same time.

The general classification remains for the most part unchanged, though today's
stage saw numerous abandons. Mario Cipollini called it a day midway through
the race, to nobody's surprise, along with teammate Mario Scirea. The Ag2R team
suffered the most today, losing Stéphane Berges, Thierry Loder, and Lauri
Aus.